Emo might be associated with sulky teens in eyeliner, but it can be very grown up nowadays. Jimmy Eat World – the Arizona band who helped take the "emotional hardcore" movement mainstream in the early 2000s – still pull the younger masses, but greyer heads among the jam-packed crowd suggest their original fans have grown older with them. In their 20th year as a band, Jimmy Eat World are reflecting this, with mature songs about lost dreams, the yearning to feel "like when we were kids" and the difficulties of rekindling romance in long-term relationships.

It's arguable whether they were ever really emo, anyway: they often sound more like a superior powerpop band who caught a wave. Either way, they have long transcended the genre, with beautifully crafted, passionately delivered pop-rockers featuring carefully placed "whoah whoahs" that invite audiences to sing and punch the air. One chap even makes an ironic devil's sign gesture at a band who, with their sensible haircuts and earnest expressions, look more likely to be in league with the nearest Rotary Club than Satan.

There are no flying bats, long speeches, splayed legs or other such rock trimmings at a Jimmy Eat World gig, but the lack of frills means it's all about the songs – 25 of them, played virtually back to back.

Work addresses the desire to escape drudgery, and might sound like a parody if it wasn't making such a heartfelt connection with the crowd. Catchy 2001 smash The Middle is an enduring anthem of reassurance, whether you're an 18-year-old fretting about exams or a 50-something worried about your health.

Singer Jimmy Adkins thanks everyone for their continuing support and sounds refreshingly sincere. Then it's back to the songs that, whoever or wherever you are, say something about your life.

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